Photos from Madrid: Halep & Mladenovic to face off in Madrid final

Defending champion Simona Halep will meet Kristina Mladenovic in the final of the 2017 Mutua Madrid Open in the Caja Magica on Saturday evening.

In the first semifinal, Romania’s Halep cruised past Latvian Anastasija Sevastova and became the only player in the history of the tournament to have reached the final three times. The 2014 runner-up and last year’s champion Halep reeled off five games in a row to win the first set and six games in a row from 3-0 down in the second to record a commanding 6-2 6-3 victory.

The Romanian will next play France’s Kristina Mladenovic, who made the final thanks to a straight-set win over doubles partner Svetlana Kuznetsova. Mladenovic continues a stunning 2017 that includes the St. Petersburg title and the final in Stuttgart just two weeks ago.

Should Mladenovic win the final tomorrow, she’ll take over the leading position in the Porsche Race to Singapore, ahead of Karolina Pliskova and Caroline Wozniacki.